Every man should have a RotoZip cut-off tool and/or a Dremel in his toolbox. Adjust it to a slow speed and secure the can. I haven't tried it one an aluminum can. But have cut up all kinds of material.

I wonder who drinks all the beer over at Trail Designs (Caldera Cones).

Yep! We ran into that same issue with our can openers. James' solution is the correct one. You will notice a raised plastic feature right below the cutting wheel.....you need to grind/sand/cut that off to get your opener to work again on the new Heinie cans......same problem with the new Fosters.

As to who drinks the beer here at TDesigns.....well.....we try to spread it around over 3 or 4 folks to ensure no one person's liver gives out for the sake of commerce! :-) Did briefly consider pulling the BPL community into the effort with a "We'll buy your properly opened cans for a dollar" like thing....but ultimately realized that the shipping and effort didn't pay off. So, unfortunately, we're forced to keep drinking beer on your behalf.

Rather than go to the trouble of buying and then modifying a can opener (I tried two different side cutters and modified them with no success) Simply get some high-grit sandpaper and sand down the rim of the can until you see a line appear around the entire lip. What you've done is separated the lid from the can itself where the lip was folded over. Then simply pull up and pop the top off. The easiest way to do this is to empty the contents (in the best manner you see fit :-P ) and then simply flipping it upside down and using circular motions on the sandpaper until the desired effect is achieved. I like having the hole there because it prevents boilover, though it does affect efficiency.

I have a Pampered Chef sidecut can opener here at home and decided I wanted to give the Heineken pot a try. Maybe it's a new design or my cutters but I can't get a grip on the lip without denting the can. Are there any other well documented methods of removing the lid intact? What about cutting the can down along one of the lower rims? Would you first drain the can, fill with water and freeze so it's easier cutting without denting it?

I just made my first two keg pots, and I used an IKEA style side cutter, and I noticed two things. First, you have the ability to squeeze to the depth you want to cut to. I didn't realize this until after the first can I cut right thru the top as well, and seperated it from the ring so it wouldn't work as a top! I also noticed that the slope at the top now precludes me from using a silicone band like I had seen in some pics before. It just slides up and off hte pot top! So on the second keg, I just didn't squeeze the cutter as much and it worked well.